From the dawn of time, people working effectively together have been able to accomplish seemingly impossible objectives, from designing and building the great pyramids of Egypt, to eradicating smallpox, to walking on the moon. Today, in the information age, the amount of information available for analysis and application to various problems is increasing at unparalleled rates. Recognizing this problem, the inventors of the present application have previously developed a synthetic multi-dimensional user oriented environment (hereinafter "MUSE"). The multi-dimensional synthetic environment developed by the inventors of the present application is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,680,524 entitled "Synthetic Environment Employing a Craft for Providing User Perspective Reference" the inventors of the present application, which is hereby incorporated by reference into the present application.
The multi-dimensional synthetic user environment disclosed in the above-mentioned patent provides a software framework for N-user application development. This system is intended to simplify the flexible manipulation of data, information, or programs by a user. The multi-dimensional system described in this patent facilitates the development of application programs independent of system platform, including the specific computer and peripherals utilized to run the multi-dimensional synthetic environment system and the application program run used by the system. Thus, the multi-dimensional synthetic environment of this prior patent enables a user to employ any peripheral devices on any multiprocessing platform to interact with the application. A programmer may modify the multi-dimensional synthetic environment by adding drivers to support a new joystick, or other input or output device.
According to the teachings of the above patent, application development may be performed without consideration of the specific platform running the multi-dimensional synthetic environment system, the application development being concerned primarily with the tasks of data gathering, data preparation and presentation and user response.
The multi-dimensional synthetic environment system mentioned in the above patent is directed to the goal of enhancing the link between the computer and the human. The intent of this system is to increase the effective rate of a user's information absorption through the use of precognitive or subcognitive capabilities of the human mind. By flexibly supplying information to the user in accordance with the teachings of the multi-dimensional synthetic environment of the above-mentioned patent, pattern recognition and trend analysis functions of the human mind may be more efficiently utilized, rendering leaps of insight more likely.
The multi-dimensional synthetic environment system described in the above-mentioned patent is designed to provide real time, multi-sensory data input and system response enabling humans to better interact with an information environment. The multi-dimensional synthetic system of the above-mentioned patent is designed to enhance human exploration, navigation, manipulation and examination of the information environment. The multi-dimensional synthetic operating system described in the above-mentioned patent enables the user to manipulate the data provided in the application program by asking questions and directing the application to perform more easily achieved tasks, leaving more complex pattern recognition and trend analysis for the operator.